we're more beautiful together

stay, please?

and then the somnambulist fell in love with the moon

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After walking and talking for a short period of time, Jack and Achelois didn't feel as awkward around each other anymore.

"That's my house", Achelois said pointing at a huge white house.

"Oh wow", Jack sighed. The house was absolutely stunning. It brought a greek house to Jack's mind and Achelois was a goddess living in it.

They got inside. Achelois put her finger in front of her lips as if she was telling Jack to be quiet.
They tried to tip-toe upstairs, where her room was, but suddenly, the lights turned on.

Achelois' parents were sitting on a couch,
looking very tired and very unsatisfied.

"Achelois Isabelle Davis, do you have any idea how worried we were?", her mom Zoë said raising her voice.

"I'm sorry?" Achelois said, which sounded more like a question than an apology.
"Who's the Backstreet Boy?" her dad Sam asked, nodding towards Jack.

Achelois turned to him and brushed a strand of hair away from her rosy cheeks: "Could you go wait in my room? It's the first room on the right."
Jack nodded for an answer, because he was too scared to say anything.
Her parents intimidated him.

When Achelois didn't hear his footsteps anymore, she continued: "I'm sorry okay? I know it's late and I know that I shouldn't have gone anywhere, but the guy is a sleepwalker!
Literally walking with his eyes closed. Can you imagine what woud've have happened to him,
if I hadn't have gone after him?"

Zoë and Sam glanced at each other and nodded.
The look on their faces was understanding.
They forgave her for leaving.

Even though this wasn't the first time that Achelois was on a late night adventure, they were always worried about their daughter.

"What's his name?" Zoë asked.

Without any hesitation, she answered:
"Jack. Jack Newbury. He is so kind and funny. He's from New Orleans. I don't know about your opinion, but he should probably sleep over. He has no place to go and he's really tired. I promise, he will call his parents the first thing tomorrow and they'll come pick him up."

Achelois bit her lip: "Please let him stay?"
She crossed her fingers behind her back.
"Please, please, please, please let him stay."

"He can stay, but I'll get a mattress for him", Sam said. Achelois celebrated in her head, but she was unsatisfied about her dad treating her like a child.

"Really dad? I'm seventeen and I just met him,
I'm not the type of person to sleep around
with strangers", Achelois said as she went to get a bottle of water.

"Of course you're not that kind of person, but you are still a five-year-old to me", Sam said and patted Achelois' head as he was walking towards the garage.
"Honey, where do we keep our mattresses?" he called out for his wife.

"Wait a minute, I'll help you to find them!" Zoë sighed. "He's just trying to protect you sweetie", she continued and kissed the top of Achelois' head.

Achelois sighed: "I know."
She smiled looking at her parents trying to find a mattress for Jack.

God, she loved her parents.

She took a sip of her water and tried to find some snacks from the messy cabinets.
"Bingo!" she exclaimed as she found Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

As she climbed up the stairs, she heard her dad say: "Are you kidding me? Where are the goddamn mattresses?"
She stopped to look back at him and smiled once again. Her parents were a constant rock in her life and she could always count on them.

Achelois entered her room and there he was: the sleepy boy, curled up and sleeping on her bed. You could definitely see the tiredness in both of them.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door.
"We found the mattress, go get a blanket and
a pillow for him. Try to get some sleep, Moon. It's late already", Sam said lovingly.

"I will. Thanks Dad", she said and went to hug her father, who always smelled like lime.

She loved that smell, it made her feel safe.

Sam planted a kiss on the top of her head and waved at her as he was approaching his and Zoë's room.

Achelois tip-toed downstairs to get a warm blanket and two pillows for Jack. Returning to her room, she sat on the bed, gently stroked his hair and whispered with a smile: "Hey, sleepy boy. Our plan to go on adventures will not work, if you keep falling asleep all the time."

He opened his slowly and yawned, which made Achelois chuckle. "You have to sleep on the mattress, it's a house policy", she said while still stroking his hair slowly and softly.

"I'm okay with that, cool policy", he smiled and got up to sleep on the mattress.

"Good night, sleepy boy."

"Good night, goddess."

As the moon shone outside and the sun was getting ready to rise, the two exhausted teens fell asleep with each other on their minds.

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hi guys!
i hope y'all liked this chapter, because
i loved writing it. i mean: achelois' family just brings a smile on my face.
what are your thought on achelois and jack's nicknames for each other?

also, i'm aware that this was a very short chapter, but the chapters on this story will mainly be short.

i guess that's all for now.
see you next time!

xoxo, marisa.